Dismantle The Sun
by Cradled In Eternity
Summary: After a kiss that leaves her lips burning, Lightning finds herself falling rapidly down a rabbit hole of feelings she'd spent her life avoiding. Falling in love with something wild and wicked as the beasts that prowled Pulse was not what she'd had in mind when they'd set out for answers in their quest to discover and complete their focus. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Evening descended over Oerba in syrupy shades of gold, gilding the ruins and pressing sun-coloured kisses to blank windows. The night sky slowly unfurled, amethyst turning to violet velvet. Lightning breathed a cloudy sigh out into the night air, sitting on the stairway of the dwelling they'd chosen to camp in for the night. Gold melted to silver as the sun disappeared beyond the distant horizon.

"Y'know," murmured Fang, seating herself beside her. "It's just for a few seconds when the sun's in the right place at sunset, but you could almost dream this place was alive again."

Lightning glanced at the huntress, unsure of how to reply. The idea of waking up to the world you knew in ashes was an incomprehensible notion, though considering their Focus, it shouldn't have been. Bodhum would always be there, the same way the sun and sea would always be there, the same way Serah had always been there. _Maybe it's not such a far-fetched thought after all._

"I'm sorry," she offered lamely, resting her hand on Fang's shoulder. Lightning had never been particularly physical with her affection, but at that moment it felt like _the right thing to do_. Usually, that would have rattled her, but she'd been going through the motions of humanity since Serah crystallized. Fang offered an uncharacteristically wan smile in response and rested her hand over Lightning's. A moment of sorrow and understanding seemed to hang in the air between them, blue-grey and trembling.

"Thanks, Light. Gets cold at night, c'mon, I'll sort out somewhere to sleep," Fang said, getting to her feet. "Don't wanna sleep in the bunks... Seems disrespectful somehow."

"Yeah," Lightning agreed quietly, following Fang into the house. It was a sparsely decorated room, still in reasonable condition considering how long it had been abandoned. Years of damp had not hit this particular house quite as badly as it had the others; the wallpaper here was nearly all intact, and if anything, at least it wasn't mouldy like the last one they'd scoped out as a potential camp spot. They'd chosen the house they found Bhakti in as it had an open area downstairs for whoever was on evening watch to sit and remain relatively protected from both the elements and the roaming c'ieth. Lightning looked down into the little town square where the majority of Oerba's c'ieth gathered as Fang rifled through a heap of their blankets and tried to find a good spot to bed down in. Sazh, Snow, Hope and Vanille methodically beat them back, their sunken forms melting into the darkness in defeat.

"We're not on watch for once, so we get the pick of the good blankets," Fang announced triumphantly, moving to rest her hand on Lightning's shoulder. "You'll do yourself no good watchin' 'em you know. We've got time."

"Not enough time," Lightning said grimly, though she appreciated the words all the same. "My brand's spreading."

"You think I don't know that? I'd never let Vanille go c'ieth... or the rest of you either. Believe it or not, I've actually come to be quite fond of you lot and I'd prefer if you didn't wind up like the poor buggers out there. Now stop staring at the locals and help me," Fang said, the softness leaving her voice. Lightning couldn't help but smile slightly at the reassurance; where Vanille was involved, Fang was pretty unstoppable. She found herself briefly questioning if Snow would be the same for Serah, and her insides shrunk away from the question. She pushed the thought of their fate from her mind and aided Fang in fashioning some sort of a bed on the floor. Lightning looked at Fang curiously. There was a strange rawness to every emotion, everything a flash fire. Her rage was a tempest and her smile was summer sunshine, there was nothing restrained or indecisive about her. Lightning conceded internally that she rather admired that quality; whilst her own rages and sadness were often violent and insurmountable, anything beyond a comfortable numbness or her two default settings of anger or sadness was an unwelcome inconvenience. Snow and Serah had always joked that she never smiled, and whilst Lightning couldn't disagree, she hadn't considered that perhaps her smiles or even her happiness at all was so rare because letting oneself simply be and experience happiness was a dangerous game to play. You can count on anger and a solid punch in the face. You can't count on happiness, it makes you do stupid things and never lasts quite long enough.

"Can't say we'll sleep like kings, but we'll be comfortable enough," Lightning said, stepping back to admire her handiwork. "When do we changeover for watch?"

"Vanille and Hope wanted to listen to Sazh's stories, so I imagine they'll have him up all night at least. Either way, we'll get in a few hours," Fang replied, stretching like a cat and seating herself on their makeshift bed, setting down her spear and kicking off her sandals. She looked up at Lightning, green eyes full of a look of quiet concern she usually reserved for Vanille. Her expression took Lightning by surprise. She was thankful that it took rather a lot to make her blush, otherwise she sensed her cheeks would have reddened under Fang's appraisal.

"What?" she demanded rudely, pulling off her boots and dropping her gunblade onto the decaying sofa.

"You need it, Light," Fang said gently. "You've taken watch every night for the past three days now. You even slept since we left Orphan's Cradle?"

Fang spat the name of the Sanctum fal'Cie's dwelling with a type of hatred that might have made Lightning's blood run cold if she were anybody else. The name alone made her skin crawl. She avoided Fang's question; she'd been taking watch because she wasn't sure she wanted to sleep. She wasn't sure what might happen when she woke up. Fang had stayed with her the first and second night, on the third switching out with Snow out of pure exhaustion.

"Does it matter?" she asked, lying down awkwardly with her arms pinned to her sides as she tried to avoid occupying any of Fang's space.

"Don't tell me you sleep like a soldier too," said Fang, exasperated, propped up on one elbow to look at Lightning with mischief in her eyes. "You scared I'm gonna spoon you?"

"I can take watch again," Lightning responded, though there was a smile tugging at the edge of her voice. "Rather face the c'ieth than you mistaking me for Vanille in the middle of the night."

"If it's any reassurance, Vanille's the one who does the spooning, I'll leave you well enough alone," Fang replied laughingly, rolling onto her back, missing the glimmer of a look akin to jealousy in Lightning's eyes. "On the subject of spooning, you got anybody to keep your bed warm? When all this is over, I mean."

"No," Lightning answered quietly. "It's always just been me."

Fang sat bolt upright.

"Always?" she asked incredulously. For a moment, Lightning had forgotten that the community Fang and Vanille had grown up in on Pulse was far more openly loving than typical Cocoon society. Loners were probably kind of uncommon in that kind of atmosphere, where everybody's open and warm, but on Cocoon, her predilection for her own company was never really questioned.

"Yep, friendships and romances were never much my thing," Lightning shrugged. She laughed slightly. "Never even been kissed, Serah was always better with boys than I ever was. Well, I say that, but look at the bonehead she ended up with."

Fang paused for a moment, then leaned over. There was a brief heart stopping moment where Lightning's breath caught and her lungs were full of her, the smell of tree resin and cinnamon and flowers, before Fang's lips met hers. Lightning, having never been kissed, was not particularly sure how to respond beyond letting it happen. It was... strange. Warm and soft, and a little wetter than she'd expected but not in a bad way. And it tasted like honey. Something inside her stomach fluttered and she felt as though all of her bones had melted. Just as she raised her arms to loop them about Fang's neck and draw her closer, Fang pulled back. Her green eyes were full of a brilliant fire.

"Well you've been kissed now," she said, slightly breathless. Lightning could feel herself blushing furiously, partly due to surprise and embarrassment, partly because she was suddenly very conscious that she wanted it to happen again. She slapped Fang across the face.

"Bloody hell Light," she yelped, rubbing her jaw. "Again?"

Lightning fumed silently. The moment Fang caught sight of her face however, she started laughing uproariously.

"I didn't ask you to kiss me," Lightning protested hotly, trying to ignore the frantic stacatto occuring within her chest.

"Take it as a favour," Fang replied evenly, flopping back onto the pillows. "I'll be sure to ask next time."

Lightning sat glaring at Fang's reclining form for a few moments, her heart racing. Something inside her seemed to tremble, foreign and wanting. She thought of the branches of her brand slowly creeping outward on her chest. She supposed now if they should die in this final battle, she wouldn't go out as somebody who'd never be kissed. Lightning wasn't sure she believed in the afterlife, but she knew she could not take Snow's teasing if they were all to be obliterated without her ever achieving one measly kiss. Suddenly, Lightning realised Fang had mentioned a _next time_ and wanted to punch her again, more out of embarrassment than anything else, but also partially because she wasn't sure she'd mind a next time too much. Fang's eyes were closed, but from the way her chest rose and fell, Lightning could tell she was still awake. She thought briefly of the c'ieth outside, of Orphan's Cradle, of Serah, of Vanille, of the crystal sand slowly swallowing Oerba, and decided to do something ridiculous. She moved to Fang's side, wrapped her arms around her and drew her into a kiss before Fang even had time to voice her surprise. Initially, she was unyielding, but after a few seconds she seemed to melt into Lightning's arms. Neither was really sure what was happening; time seemed to both slow to a crawl yet simultaneously go too fast. Lightning kissed her slowly, passionately, in a way she didn't know she had the ability to kiss, her breath hitching as one of Fang's hands tangled in her hair, the other arm wrapping around her waist to draw her close. Lightning felt a strange warmth flood the pit of her stomach as Fang parted her legs with her thigh, their breasts pressing together. For a moment, she was almost sure they shared a heartbeat. This was not what Lightning had expected at all; this was too warm, panicked wandering hands, gasping breaths, not the slow, heady romance novel kiss she'd been led to believe her first kiss would be. This was strange and wild, but then again, she was kissing Fang, not a sappy romance novel hero. Of course things would be different. Fang was the embodiement of strange and wild.

"Now we're even," Lightning whispered as they broke apart, both breathing heavily, a flush rising on Fang's chest.

"You're a good kisser for somebody's only been kissed once," Fang remarked with a grin. Lightning tried to ignore her bedroom eyes and the way her thigh was pressed against her.

"I had a great teacher," Lightning replied wryly, and Fang shoved her.

"Who knows, maybe this whole time you were a natural," Fang shot back, raising her eyebrows and turning to lie on her back, arms folded behind her head. Lightning imitated her, suddenly aware that the sun had set and the room had darkened.

"I'm sorry," Lightning said after a long moment of silence. "I hope this won't make things... awkward. And Vanille-"

"Nah, won't make anything weird," Fang replied offhandedly. "And don't worry about Vanille. I've never really had an interest in anybody else, but there've been others for her. Not... romantically, but just for when she needed affection I wasn't there to give."

Lightning noted a thread of sadness in her voice, but didn't broach the subject.

"Thank you," she said lamely, glad that Fang didn't seem particularly ruffled by their encounter, though Lightning was sure her heartbeat was stuck somewhere down by her hips. Fang rolled over onto her side to look at Lightning properly.

"Don't feel bad," she commanded with a mock serious expression, though her eyes glittered. Lightning smiled.

"I'm glad I did it," Lightning responded, trying to sound disinterested and ignore the tumultuous response to the kiss her body was still dealing with. "I can cross that off the bucket list."

Fang laughed at her.

"What, kissing in general, or kissing me?" she queried, gesturing grandly at herself.

"Oh both," Lightning replied with sarcasm. "They were right next to each other at the very top of my list of things I need to do before I die."

"Well we'll work on the rest of that list when this is all over," Fang said with a wink. "Now that you've got the most important part out of the way."

"Yeah definitely, not saving my sister or seeing all the beautiful things the world has to offer, I got to cross off making out with Fang off there so I'm pretty much set," Lightning replied, playing along and smiling despite herself. Fang laughed and pulled the blankets around herself.

"I'm gonna get some sleep," she said gently, tossing a blanket at Lightning. "You should too."

"I will," Lightning replied, feeling a little like a chastised child. She wrapped herself in the blanket and turned to face away from Fang so she could look at the sky out of the window. Something seemed to stir in her chest. It ached, but not the way she'd ached for Fang's touch and kisses earlier. This hurt more; if she'd been the type, it might have made her want to cry. She sighed softly and tried to focus on the slow burning glow of the stars outside, foreign and strange, different to the night sky she knew from Cocoon.

 _I hope Fang's right and Vanille doesn't mind,_ Lightning thought idly, pushing her rosey bangs out of her face. Somewhere outside, a creature shrieked, close enough to be unsettling but far away enough not to be a problem. Regardless, Lightning still shuddered slightly; the squalls of the c'ieth were... difficult to hear. She almost yelped in fright when Fang's toned brown arms wrapped around her chest and drew her close. Part of her wanted to fight, maybe to punch Fang in the face again, but a stronger, sleepier part of her brain that probably only came out for parties and inconvenient events like this wanted to just lie there in Fang's arms and pretend to be safe. Just for a little while.


	2. Chapter 2

Dawn broke blue and pale yellow, the air crisp and cold. Lightning woke with a start, instinctively stiffening agains the embrace she was locked in. She paused, recognizing Fang's tattoos.

 _Did she hold me all night?_ Lightning's chest seized up with a strange combination of feelings.

"Good mornin', sunshine," Fang whispered, her breath tickling Lightning's ear, sending gooseflesh crawling across her skin. Lightning gasped softly, feeling blood creeping to her cheeks. Fang chuckled.

"Good morning," Lightning replied stiffly, very aware that Fang wasn't wearing a bra.

"Don't tell me you're goin' cold on me now," Fang laughed, releasing Lightning from her grip so the smaller woman could turn over to look at her. Lightning's heart fluttered as she met Fang's gaze.

"Hey, you were the one hugging me all night," Lightning replied, sitting up and searching around for her boots. The sooner she got up and out of Fang's vicinity, the sooner this fog in her head would clear. "Thought you said Vanille was the one who liked spooning."

"Not all night," Fang said slyly. "You spent most of last night with your face buried in my neck, shakin' like a leaf. You always have bad dreams?"

Lightning froze, refusing to turn and meet Fang's eyes. She set her jaw and grabbed her boots, pulling them on and getting to her feet without a word. She snatched up her gunblade and stalked from the room, leaving Fang lying bemused in the middle of the floor.

Outside, the air bit at her skin ferociously, a sharp contrast the heady warmth of Fang's embrace. As she strode downstairs, face firmly set in a scowl, Vanille passed her, clearly heading upstairs to get Fang.

"Good morning!" she chirruped. Lightning merely nodded in response, ignoring the strange little tweak of jealousy somewhere in the pit of her stomach. She'd never missed the idea of a relationship before, so why right now, in the middle of the wildnerness of all places? She grit her teeth and wandered over to where Snow, Hope and Sazh were standing around a pathetically small fire.

"Hey Light," Hope said quietly, avoiding her eyes. "Ready to move on today?"

"Sure," Lightning replied tonelessly, stretching and wincing slightly as her elbows crackled. "Where's the next C'ieth Stone?"

"I think I saw an inactive one back in the underground tunnels we found Atomos in," Hope replied.

"I've noticed the more of these C'ieth Stones we aid, the more of them become active, might as well go check if the one the kid found is active now," Sazh shrugged. "No more around here that I can see, least nothing we can handle right now."

"Mah'habara Subterra it is, then," Lighting replied, kicking crystal sand over the fire to put it out. "Day's journey at least. You up to it?"

She directed her last query at Hope, who was still recovering from a nasty scrap with a Vetala and had sustained brutal burns across his shoulder and chest. He rubbed his nose with the heel of his hand.

"I can do it," he said, looking up at her sincerely. She appraised him critically for a few moments before conceding that she trusted Hope to be honest with her if he needed some time. She didn't miss the slight flush that coloured the boy's cheeks as he avoided her gaze; she was not oblivious to the near hero-worship tier idolisation Hope held for her, though she tried her best not to acknowledge it. _I'm not a role model_ , she wanted to tell him. _I'm a mess._

"We ready?" called Vanille, running down the stairs and jumping the last two steps as Fang followed with her usual swagger. Lightning looked away, though not before noting the green eyes of the huntress flicker toward her.

"Yeah," Lightning replied, feeling as though she was drowning in a dry river bed. "We're ready."

As it turned out, "back the way you came" was the only way out of Oerba; with so much of the village's infrastructure eroded by age or swallowed by crystal, Taejin's Tower was the last bastion of a living, breathing world within reach of the village.

"Didn't think I'd be so glad to see some of Pulse's wildlife," muttered Sazh. "Ghost towns got that kind of effect, they make you miss the parts of the world that are still alive."

Lightning noted a muscle in Fang's jaw twitch at Sazh's remark, though she wasn't sure if her ire had been provoked by the "ghost town" comment, or the implication that anybody wouldn't treasure the notion of meeting more of Gran Pulse's slavering, murderous locals. _Not just a flirty pain in the ass, then,_ Lightning mused, forgetting that she'd decided she wasn't going to give Fang the satisfaction of looking at her. _A patriotic flirty pain in the ass. Refreshing._

As though summoned by the bitter edge of her thoughts, Fang turned gracefully to walk backwards, looking Lightning in the eye with an infuriating smirk on her face.

"Cheer up you lot," she said lazily, kicking a glittering shower of sand up at them. "Thought you'd be pleased we're heading somewhere... cheerier."

"Yeah, because underground tunnels are the most magical place in the world. Nautilus Park has nothing on your glorified mineshafts," Lightning deadpanned, raising a brow. She noticed Fang's eyes narrow slightly, and sensed that she had involuntarily entered herself into a challenge. However, she did have to admit the party looked a little... _dreary._ Even Snow hadn't been spouting his usual nonsense he imagined was somehow encouraging.

"Hey missy, if you want to take your anger out on me, that's fine," Fang said airily, though Lightning braced herself for the no doubt scorching follow up. "Not my fault you're so... wound up."

She raised her brows and turned away, lazily draping her arm over Vanille's shoulder. Lightning simmered quietly, refusing to dignify her with a response. _Pretty tame for a Fang comeback,_ Lightning mused. _Least she didn't tell me to get laid. Then I really might have hit her again._

Lost in her own confusion about the events of the last night, Lightning barely noticed their journey through Taejin's Tower until they were outside and an enormous Amphisbaena began to circle them menacingly.

"Watch him, he's a hungry bugger," Fang warned. "If he swoops, he's gonna try and grab you."

"They don't prey on humans," Vanille said softly, watching as the beast rose to prepare for a dive. "At least, they're not supposed to."

Lightning waited until the creature was near enough to strike before lunging forward and striking it dully with her gunblade, sending it whirling off balance. Unsettled and briefly knocked off course, she spun and followed up with a sharp burst of thunder magic. The beast screeched and tore at her angrily, mangling the arm she threw up to protect herself. Holding her arm awkwardly, she blasted the beast in the face with a second thunder spell, backflipping neatly out of the way of a second strike, though she winced as she hit the ground, the impact jarring her broken arm. Snow called out a challenge at the beast, drawing it's attention long enough for the others to enter the fray.

"Light, back up, we got this," called Sazh, waving her off. She ignored him and charged forward once again, though it felt as though were fireworks exploding behind her eyes. She flipped the cap off a vial of potion and downed it. It didn't heal the wound, but it dulled the pain long enough for her get in another flurry of blows at the beast. She knew somewhere inside she needed to back off, but fighting meant she wasn't thinking, and right now, not thinking was the best possible course of action. Even the dull ache of a broken arm was welcome respite from the constant _what the hell was that?_ monologue swimming in circles in her skull like a distressed goldfish. The effect of the potion did little to stay the pain of her broken arm, however, and as she unthinkingly threw up the wrong hand to cast another spell, she had a moment of blind, sizzling electric rage before her spellcasting was cut off and she was knocked backward by Snow. Sazh followed up his brutal punches with sprays of bullets respectively whilst Hope and Vanille bolestered their efforts with magic.

"This is why we don't attempt things by ourself, sunshine," Fang breathed in her ear, hauling her out of the way of the fight. "You're not a one man army."

Lightning beat her off and got to her feet, cradling her obviously broken arm. Fang looked at her for a moment, something that looked eerily like hurt darkening her eyes, before she stepped back.

"Vanille, switch!" she called out, running into the fray and trading places with Vanille who came to Lightning's aid.

"I'm fine," Lightning said cooly, readying a cure spell. Vanille giggled.

"It's silly to try and act tough when your arm looks like that," she said with disarming cheer. Lightning had to admit, arms were definitely not supposed to sit at that angle. "Here, let me."

She sighed with relief as the cold embrace of curative magic enveloped her arm, the blue-white light fading to reveal her arm was no longer a shredded mess that twisted in a very unnatural way.

"Thanks," Lightning muttered grudgingly, looking up as the rest of the party downed the beast and slew it.

"Don't mention it," Vanille said brightly, tilting her head slightly. "The scars will fade in the next few hours."

Lightning nodded, scrambling to her feet and moving away as Fang approached. She pretended she didn't see Fang and Vanille lace their fingers together and walk hand in hand, trying to focus on Sazh and Snow's banter about who had actually dealt the killing blow in the last fight.

"Hey Light," Hope said, falling in to step beside her. "That wasn't like you. You're tough, but you're not dumb."

"Thanks," she said coldly. "I guess I just got a little lost in the battle."

"You're not thinking straight," Hope told her firmly. "We don't try to do stuff alone, remember? We agreed, we gotta work as a team."

Lightning didn't have a response for him. True, had she been thinking clearly, she wouldn't have gotten wounded in the first place. And if she'd not been so driven by sheer blind stupidity, she would've cast cure on herself and taken a backseat at least for the few seconds her arm needed to reset. Hope continued to talk, his voice low, but Lightning's mind wandered from chastising herself toward Fang. _You're not a one man army_ , repeated in her head, though with the adrenaline of battle wearing off, she realised Fang's tone had not been mocking as she'd initially imagined, but concerned. She thought back to what Fang had said the night before, about Vanille needing affection "she wasn't there to give". Lightning's train of thought paused at that; she'd never considered either of them would ever find any comfort in the arms of another. She'd never seen that much devotion between two people before, not even her own parents. They were both consumed by the same fire, and they burned together apart from the rest of the world, alone in their total absorption in each other. _But Fang kissed you,_ a small voice reminded Lightning smugly. Lightning could not conjure up a sufficient response, and instead tried again to refocus on the group's conversation.

 _She kissed me,_ Lightning breathed, her thoughts a glittering maelstrom of confusion. _She kissed me and I didn't want her to stop._


	3. Chapter 3

The air seemed to quiver behind a swathe of crystal, thick with tiny water droplets thrown up by the magnificent falls dotted around the Sulyya Springs. They glistered into existence in effervescing rainbows, climbing into the party's lungs and glittering on their faces. This was not their first visit to the Springs, but they never ceased to amaze. Somewhere on the other side of the vast lake, the great fal'Cie Bismarck roared and sprayed a fount of quicksilver spring water impossibly high into the air.

"If we climb up to the Skyreach, it'll be dry enough to camp," Vanille suggested, looking hopeful.

"We could do with finding a spot to rest," Sazh agreed, looking to the rest of the party for confirmation. "Light's dimming, and here's as good a place as any."

"Fine," Lightning said, already beginning to climb upward to the Skyreach where it was considerably drier than on the banks of the Springs. She was careful to avoid Fang's eyes, talking to Vanille about the huge fal'Cie who protected the Springs as they climbed. Upon reaching the Skyreach, Hope and Vanille gambolled ahead over the ledge and into the grass, kicking up great delicate clouds of seed puffs into the sky.

"Glad we're camping up here," Snow said, sitting down in the grass. "I like to drink my water, not breathe it."

Lightning sat down a few feet away, tossing her gunblade down carelessly onto the grass and gazing up at the dark bruise of Cocoon that marked the vermillion sky. The world breathed in and out in shades of rose gold and amber, a white snow of fluffy seeds climbing ever upward and disappearing into the arcing orange cloud. For just a moment, Cocoon looked dead and far away enough that the weight of the brand on her chest was lifted. She flopped onto her back, sending a flurry of cottony seeds dancing away across the grass. The air was full of the sound of birds returning to roost, and the quiet rumble of the falls far below, Hope yelling as Vanille tried to persuade him to try on the crown of woven flowers she had made. The world felt encased in warm glass, a perpetual twilight where the sun kissed freckles onto smiling faces and creeping crystal and burning brands were barely even a faint notion conjured by a sickened imagination. Heavy golden pollen hung in great glittering clouds, an aureate, perfumed mist. It clung to Lightning's skin and hair and tickled sneezes into her chest. She rolled over onto her front and watched a fat, iridescent beetle crawl along her gunblade.

"Hey Light," Hope said, crouching down in front of her. "Wanna take watch with me tonight?"

"Sure," she said with slightest hint of a smile, suppressing a laugh; Vanille had succeeded in forcing a garland of flowers onto his head. She had to admit, violent purple was definitely his colour. "That is an aggressively colourful new accessory you have there. It brings out your eyes."

"Vanille made me wear it..." Hope said with an awkward laugh, blushing. "I'll tell everybody we're taking watch."

He nodded as if to solidify their agreement before backing off and wandering back over to rest of the group. Satisfied she'd been left in peace, Lightning rolled back over onto her back and closed her eyes to enjoy the last of the sun before the cold night set in. She was close to dozing off under the influence of the thick, floral air, when the sound of somebody sitting down beside her drew her out of her reverie. She turned over to be greeted by Fang lying propped up on one elbow next to her, wearing her trademark grin. Lightning tried not to notice the way the golden pollen had settled on her eyelashes and in her hair, nor the way her smile seemed so becomingly enigmatic. _You're being an idiot,_ she chastised herself. _Stop looking at her like that. It was a kiss and it didn't mean anything to either of you._

"Don't let me disturb you," Fang said lightly, examining her nails with feigned disinterest.

"You don't," Lightning said flatly, turning back to face up at the sky once again and throwing her arm over her eyes to block out the vision of Fang.

"You know I'm just playin' with you," Fang replied, softening. "Just wanted to say sorry in case I upset you back there, sayin' you were wound up."

Lightning raised her arm to look at Fang from beneath thoughtfully, considering her apology.

"I've decided to be magnanimous and forgive you," she said mirthlessly, though Fang smiled at her sarcasm. "But don't worry about it. I guess I can be kinda tense."

"And I can be too easy going," Fang answered, picking absently at a healing wound on her arm. She dropped her voice to barely more than a whisper. "But yeah. Just wanted to make sure we were cool. Especially with everything... I mean... Look it was out of line for me to kiss you and I'm sorry."

"I kissed you back," Lightning admitted, cheeks flaming, removing her arm from her face and sitting up to look Fang in the eye. "If anything, I encouraged it. I'm sorry I was so uh... cuddly in my sleep."

Fang grinned and punched Lightning playfully in the arm. Lightning didn't react, but she was fairly certain there'd be a bruise there the next day.

"Nah, you're fine," she responded with an easy smile. "Besides, drool washes out no proble-"

Fang did not get to finish her sentence because Lightning pulled up a handful of grass and dumped it unceremoniously on her head. Fang choked with a combination of laughter and a mouthful of grass, retaliating by pulling Lightning over and sending her sprawling clumsily onto the grass beside her.

"You guys are dorks," called Hope, still wearing his flower crown, as he helped Sazh light the fire.

"Not too much of a dork to chuck you in beside that big watery bastard lurking down in the Springs," Fang quipped, sitting up and grabbing her spear threateningly. Hope hurriedly lowered his eyes and suddenly became very absorbed in lighting the fire, accidentally casting too exuberantly and singing off his eyebrows. There was a heartbeat when time seemed to stand still, then it happened.

Lightning laughed. Fang looked at her in surprise before bursting into laughter herself. After a few moments, the laughter died cold in Lightning's throat and she fell backward onto the grass, suddenly empty.

"I don't have time for this," she said grimly. " _We_ don't have time for this."

"Light, we've always got time to be human. Besides, I've been thinking, you know how you said your brand was spreading?" Fang replied, looking rather crestfallen at the swift departure of Lightning's good mood. "Have you even checked it since we got here?"

"To tell you the truth, I've been trying not to think about it too much," Lightning admitted. "But I can't shake the feeling we're wasting our time."

"Nah, see, I've been suspicious since that portal to Pulse showed up back in Orphan's Cradle," Fang said thoughtfully. "And I've been keepin' an eye on everybody's brands. I don't think any of 'em have spread since we got here. I reckon Orphan's given us time. Made Pulse our playground to make us strong enough to do whatever he needs us to do."

"That makes sense," Lightning said sitting up and unzipping her top and checking her brand. As Fang had said, it didn't appear to have changed. "He's training us up. Making sure we don't fail. I guess the prospect of turning C'ieth isn't enough of a motivator."

"And he knows we won't just take advantage of the extra time," Fang replied solemnly. "Because of what he's holding over us. Clever bastard."

Lightning sighed and tilted her head back, eyes closed. It felt like there was no end to the web woven by the fal'Cie. She felt her skin prickle as Fang shifted slightly, their arms brushing. As though burned, she jerked away and got to her feet.

"I'm sorry, I told Hope I'd do watch tonight," she babbled, walking away from Fang once again, feeling the woman's gaze burning into her shoulder blades. Guilt twitched inside her ribcage somewhere, but jealousy hushed it. _If she's so lonely she has Vanille. She doesn't need you._

Lightning sighed a quiet agreement and rearranged her features into an impassive mask as she walked over to the spot at the mouth of the passageway up to the Skyreach Hope had chosen as their lookout post _._ As a cool wind, smelling of moss and damp, blew up from the dark path down toward the Springs, Lightning attempted to push Fang from her mind, keeping her back to the rest of the group and her focus on the sound of running water to stay her wandering thoughts from rambling too far from the task at hand.

The evening passed uneventfully, the cold night air a welcome release from Gran Pulse's insistent, scorching sun. Hope had fallen asleep sometime past midnight, but comfortable in her ability should anything untoward come wandering into their encampment, Lightning let him sleep. Fairly certain everybody had fallen asleep, she chanced a glance at the rest of the party sleeping around the fire. Snow's hulking form was shuddering with snores, Sazh was dead to the world, and Fang and Vanille lay in each other's arms just a few feet away from everybody else. Lightning's chest bloomed with jealousy which she hurriedly swallowed. _What are you jealous of? It's not like you even like sleeping next to other people. When Serah used to get in your bed after a nightmare, you always complained she got too warm and stole all your blankets._ Lightning's internal monologue was interrupted by the sound of bodies shifting, of tentative kisses.

"I love you," Lightning could just barely make out Vanille's whispers.

"I love you too," Fang murmured back. "Go to sleep. I'm exhausted."

"You weren't even on watch last night," Vanille replied. Lightning could practically hear the pout in her voice. She didn't manage to make out Fang's reply, but it didn't matter; her mind had wandered off on its own, as it was wont to do. _Did she stay up all night making sure I was okay?_ Lightning pushed her thoughts away and turned her back to the rest of the group, gazing down into the pathway down to the Springs absently, trying not to think of Fang and Vanille tangled in each other's arms because she wasn't sure what to do with the unwelcome swell of envy that rose in her throat. That was confusing to think about, and when things were confusing to think about, Lightning preferred not to think about them. She sighed gently, issuing forth a thin stream of steam, aching thoughtfulness condensed into a rapidly vanishing cloud misting the cool night air. If she was honest, it was easier not to think about anything at all.

Dawn was heralded by a chorus of birdsong and an argent glow somewhere behind the grey clouds of morning. Hope stirred beside Lightning, looking around in confusion followed by horror.

"Ahhhh," he groaned. "I'm sorry, I fell asleep."

"Don't worry about it," Lightning replied easily, sliding down from the rock they'd taken up watch from. Her legs almost crumpled as they hit the ground; her legs had fallen asleep. She staggered slightly and stretched, embarassed.

"I'm gonna go swim, wake myself up a little," Lightning yawned. "You okay to look after everybody whilst I'm gone?"

She supressed a smile; for all she'd berated Hope for his uselessness when they first embarked on their journey, he'd grown into somebody she might have trusted with her life, if she ever relaxed enough to let somebody else look after her for a while. Lightning barely waited for a response before slipping down the little pathway to the Springs. Having cleared out the resident monsters the night before, the Springs were still and quiet but for the gentle rumbling of the fal'Cie Bismarck as he studied her suspiciously. Rather hesitant about the notion of taking a dip with a very large fal'Cie, Lightning opted to bathe in one of the smaller pools, selecting one fed by a waterfall that in turn trickled down into the main pool. She removed her clothing and got into the water as quickly as possible, shuddering at the cold. Although the chill of the water seemed to squeeze the air from her lungs, the opportunity for the closest thing to a bath was not something she could overlook. Even as she stood shivering in the chest height water, she could feel the current lifting days of grime from her skin. She dipped her head under, rinsing the crystal sand from her hair and the dust that coated her in a fine powder. The golden pollen from the flowers up on the Skyreach collected on the surface of the water. As she broke the surface, filling her lungs with the sharp morning air, she almost dove back under the water again at the sight of Vanille sitting by the pond looking at her curiously. Frantically covering her breasts with her arms, Lightning swam to the edge of the pool, pressing herself to the stone in an effort to conceal as much of herself as possible.

"Good morning," Vanille trilled, smiling at her brightly.

"Uh, Vanille," Lightning muttered. "Kinda naked."

"I don't mind!" Vanille replied, stretching luxuriously and flopping backward to rest on her outstretched arms. Seeing Lightning's face, she had the good grace to giggle with embarrassment and cover her eyes whilst Lightning clambered out of the water and hurriedly got dressed, trying not to wince at the sensation of pulling dry clothes onto wet skin. Fully dressed, Lightning sat down crosslegged beside Vanille and wrung out her hair.

"Light," Vanille began gently. "Fang told me she kissed you."

"I-I'm sorry," Lightning stammered, unsure how to reply, flushing furiously. Suddenly, she felt as though she'd been doused with a bucket of scalding water as shame consumed her. She'd been stewing jealously since she'd kissed Fang, and had barely considered that she had kissed Vanille's... whatever Fang was to her.

"Don't be," Vanille said softly, resting her hand on Lightning's arm reassuringly. "Look, I just wanted to tell you... It's okay. Really. I know what it's like to be lonely. Everybody needs a little warmth sometimes. Even you."

Vanille met her eyes with a curious expression before getting up and walking away to rejoin the rest of group, leaving Lightning alone with her thoughts, more confused than she was before.


	4. Chapter 4

Clouds massed blackly across the Pulsian skies, casting an ominous shadow that set the entire party on edge. The air seemed to crackle with something oppressive and dark that welled in their chests and settled there, a trembling pressure.

"Storm's coming," Fang said conversationally, when they woke to the sky cloaked in angry grey, the sun nowhere to be seen. Lightning and Vanille were already awake, the former standing despondently in the mouth of the tunnel down to the springs, whilst Vanille stood and looked out over the land, eyeing the sunless sky with mistrust. The heat, however, was blistering; as they beat a path across the Sulyaa Springs, Lightning even deigned unzip her sweater slightly, her hair sticking to her face. Even the air she breathed in seemed tepid and heavy, settling uncomfortably in the bottom of her lungs and pooling there, suffocating. Despite the "bath" she'd taken earlier in the morning, she already felt sticky and unclean again.

"It'll be cooler in the tunnels," Vanille said sympathetically, walking at her side. Lightning threw a sidelong glance at the redhead; she seemed to be suffering considerably less than Lightning, the heat barely even raising a glow to her fair skin. Lightning supposed she was used to the heat. She stopped herself turning to see how Fang was faring, just barely. Vanille giggled.

"What?" Lightning demanded, furrowing her brow. Vanille reached up and touched Lightning's bangs, taking her by surprise.

"Your hair's standing on end," she said, covering her mouth demurely as she laughed whilst Lightning tried frantically to flatten the flyaways caught in the breeze. Vanille looked up through her lashes at Lightning strangely, with an expression she couldn't quite place. Somewhere between happy, sad and curious all at once. It was odd and uniquely childlike in just how unsettled it left her as Vanille combed her fingers through her pigtails and skipped off to join Hope. Lightning's thoughts simmered with quiet confusion. _What the hell did I walk into?_ she asked herself, internally cursing herself for letting Fang kiss her, cursing Fang for kissing her in the first place, cursing Vanille for being so damn mysterious about whatever it was she wanted, and cursing Snow, just for the hell of it. It was easier if she mostly cursed Fang; the gnawing knowledge that she'd wanted that kiss, encouraged it even, flooded her with a dizzying guilt she really didn't need whilst trying to deal with the predatory inhabitants of Pulse, Fang as well as the monsters. Her thoughts swam in dizzy circles somewhere in the pit of her stomach, nauseating. Even as they hacked their way through a few path-blocking monsters, Lightning's mind was elsewhere. She barely even spared a glance for the glowing moss she'd silently admired so much on their first trip to Oerba. In fact, she was so distracted, she didn't even notice when they unanimously decided to pause in the Flower Filled Fissure for a brief rest before proceeding into the dark mouth of the Subterra. It yawned menacingly, black copper, breathing a cold, dead air onto their faces as they paused at the opening. Lightning peered into the darkness to no avail.

"S'pretty deep," Sazh said, gesturing toward the tunnel. "First time we came through when Snow and I did a lil scouting, we weren't able to map much beyond the path we stuck to. So it's best we rest now rather than getting lost and coming up short in there."

The party murmured in agreement and instantly settled on the grass, cleaning off the blood and bits of foliage their weapons had accumulated and fishing out waterskins from their packs. Hope and Vanille sat down on the cliff's edge, dangling their legs over the abyss below. Lightning guessed Vanille was pointing out all the different flora and fauna that inhabited this particular area of Pulse; during their journey, she'd become the group's personal encyclopedia, and whilst her information wasn't always particularly necessary, it was both useful and pleasant to have something of a tour guide. Sazh and Snow reclined against some rocks, keeping watchful eyes on the sky and muttering darkly about the weather and bad omens like a pair of old women. Fang, of course, scrambled up the rocks to the highest point possible where she immediately threw herself down into the grass. Lightning neatly leaped up to follow her, setting her jaw grimly, trying to ignore the way her heart seemed to skip slightly in her chest when she noticed how lovely Fang looked, lying in the bed of tiny white flowers. There was a small break in the clouds, just enough for an intense golden fount of sunlight to spill through and settle on Fang's skin, turning her honey coloured.

"Explain something to me," Lightning began hotly, standing over Fang as she lay on her back, sunning herself.

"Anythin', Princess," Fang replied, shielding her eyes from the sun to meet Lightning's fierce, cerulean gaze. Lightning resisted the urge to kick her in the face.

"What is this? What are we even doing here?" she asked, struggling to keep from raising her voice. "Whatever's going on between you and Vanille, don't make me part of it."

That made Fang sit up, the relaxed, mocking smirk vanishing rapidly. Lightning tried not to notice the way her muscles tautened beneath her bronze skin, her sari sliding down slightly.

"If you don't know what you're talkin' about, it's best you keep your mouth shut," Fang growled in response, getting her feet. "Nobody's makin' you part of anything."

"You made me part of whatever weird stuff is going on between you two the moment you kissed me," Lightning replied, bristling. She crossed her arms. The sunlight faded as the cloud closed over again.

"Sweetheart, I did you a favour," Fang replied, stepping forward, squaring up against Lightning. "And if I remember correctly, you weren't exactly resistant."

Lightning refused to back down, again thankful that she was not prone to blushing otherwise she may have flushed at their sudden closeness. Her heart pounded in her chest as she gazed into Fang's eyes, aching at the hardness in the huntress's gaze but at the same time boiling with her own quiet, barely suppressed rage. They were so close they were almost touching, Lightning full of resentment at the warmth that flooded her when she met Fang's eyes. The tension between them seemed to crackle, tangible and searing. For a moment, the rest of the world seemed to fall away. Lightning was just barely clinging to the last threads of dignity she had, refraining from drawing her weapon and knocking Fang into the dust. There was a beat between them, and suddenly Fang's expression softened. Lightning's rage vanished more out of sheer surprise than anything else as Fang raised her hands apologetically. Lightning watched her warily, keeping her arms folded across her chest defensively.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely, looking away. "The deal with Vanille and me... S'complicated."

"I'm a smart girl," Lightning replied tonelessly, letting her arms fall to her side. It felt strange, to be standing so close, just talking, the sharp, metallic tang of rage still quivering in the air.

"Nah, nah," Fang waved away her curiosity. "Just... take it from me, you're not part of this. What happened... I was just foolin' around, I wasn't trying to get my own back on Vanille or anythin'."

"I see," Lightning responded tentatively, appraising Fang with slight suspicion. "But she spoke to me at the Springs this morning, she said it's okay to be lonely, whatever that means."

"Yeah, that's the thing," Fang said awkwardly, looking away and running her hand through her hair. "Vanille says she's fine, but I think she thinks I'm trying to get back at her or something."

"Or something? I'd imagine that's exactly what she's thinking," Lightning replied, one brow raised.

"I love Vanille, don't ever doubt it, I will love her until this world dies and I'll love her again in the next," Fang said passionately. "But by the gods, she can be a real pain in the arse about stuff like this. Doesn't much like to say how she feels, Vanille."

Fang groaned theatrically and sank onto the ground, tilting her head back and stretching, frustration etched in every line of her body. Lightning had always marvelled at the way Fang managed to make every part of her body reflect her feelings.

"Fang," Lightning said with a light, enquiring tone. Fang looked up hopefully.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever met a woman?" Lightning continued, trying not to smile at the way Fang looked utterly crestfallen the moment she realised Lightning was being facetious.

"Met more than you probably," Fang scoffed, folding her arms.

"Idea; shut up for a minute and listen," Lightning replied, sitting down beside her. Moments ago, she'd been infuriated, humiliated, _seething._ But something about Fang's faltering bravado, about the total look of loss in her eyes stayed her hand and lent her a new view on her companion.

"Alright wise one, regale me with your wonderful wisdom of womanly wiles," Fang drawled, rolling her eyes, though she glanced back cautiously to make sure she wasn't pushing it.

"You're both idiots," Lightning said decisively. At that moment, the black sky suddenly spiderwebbed with cracks of blinding light as lightning sprawled across the heavens and an impossibly heavy rain began sheeting down in a thick, opaque curtain. Almost instantly, they were soaked to the skin. The rain was warm, and Lightning was too surprised by the sudden downpour to respond, instead staring dumbly up into the sky. Hope, Vanille, Sazh and Snow immediately beat a hasty retreat into the opening of the tunnel. From where she stood, Lightning could hear her name being called, muffled by the rain and the sudden ferocious wind that came with it. She paused, turning to look at Fang, who was watching her quizzically with her arms folded, seemingly oblivious to the fact they were both getting utterly drenched.

"You wanna stand here in the pissin' rain all day, or are we gonna make nice and go take shelter with the rest of 'em?" Fang asked, quirking a brow.

"We clearly have some stuff to talk about, but now isn't the place to do it," Lightning conceded grudgingly. "Despite my name, I don't much wanna be a walking lightning rod up here, we should head down to cover."

Fang nodded, and extended her hand to help lead Lightning back down over the rocks.

"What a gentleman," Lightning said drily as she accepted the offer, trying not to let her voice break when she felt Fang's hand in hers. Fang winked at her, leading her back down over the wet rocks with lazy confidence. Lightning really didn't need her assistance, but she accepted anyway, telling herself it was out of an effort to be friendlier rather than simply because she wanted Fang to touch her again. It took her a few seconds to realise they'd reached solid ground, and she dropped Fang's hand as though it had scalded her.

"Always so shy," Fang chuckled as they walked toward the tunnel the rest of the group were taking refuge in. _Not to_ _o_ _shy to punch you in the face_ _again_ _,_ Lightning replied internally, trying to look unassuming as they wandered into the tunnel together. _Not to shy to kiss you so hard it burned._

"Come sit by the fire you two," Sazh said, gesturing for them to come closer to the little fire he'd got going on the stone floor. For once, Lightning ignored her instinct to hang back and lean against the wall, and instead chose to come sit on the floor amongst the party. As she did so, she considered that perhaps internally referring to them as "her party" all the time was innaccurate; they'd truly become friends to her. However, her thoughts immediately took their leave as Fang unwound her sari and hung it over a protruding piece of rock to dry. Lightning tried not to look, though all the muscles in her stomach clenched. Vanille giggled at the group averting their eyes.

"You Cocoon people can be so... prudish. She's still got clothes on underneath, y'know," she said, shoving Lightning by the shoulder gently, laughing at the flush rushing to her cheeks. Lightning sighed deeply. No, her focus would not be the decider of her fate. She already knew her "friends" would be the death of her.

The deeper they went into the tunnels, the more unbearably warm it got, as though they were walking through the veins of the world down into the earth. Lightning supposed the heat was generated by Atomos, the huge tunnelling fal'Cie responsible for the creation of the Subterra; every time he screeched past them in one of the deep channels he used for navigation, it got a few degrees hotter. Sweat beaded on everybody's forehead, their clothes sticking to them, the air clinging to their bodies in a sheen of damp heat. They trekked all the way an area Vanille told them was called The Maw Of The Abyss, where Hope excitedly pointed out the Cie'th Stone he'd found. _Thank Etro,_ Lightning thought; the heat was suffocating. They slowly began to make their way to their new destination; Taejin's Tower. None of the group particularly savoured the notion of returning to the collapsing spire where even the air tasted dead and the wind filled your hair with Oerban crystal. As far as Lightning was concerned, it was the crystalline tombstone upon which Oerba's grey and grim epitaph was etched, a shattered spear jutting into the sky as an eternal warning; no life beyond this point. She shivered slightly in spite of the heat, the sweat suddenly cooling on her skin.

"Time for another trip back home then," said Fang with a hollow laugh. Vanille glanced at her, wounded, and turned away as Fang simply shrugged in response. Lightning looked away; the hurt was still hot beneath the surface in both of them and it raised a burning behind her eyes. She wasn't quite sure why it hurt her so much to say them fight, but guilt gnawed at her somewhere behind her ribcage. As they beat a grim retreat back out of the Subterra, Fang fell into step beside her.

"Stop worryin'," Fang murmured next to her. "Nothin' to do with you."

Lightning raised her brows at her and refrained from answering. Talk was limited as they slowly tread back through the tunnels and out into the rain once again. The entire time they walked, Lightning tried to focus on anything other than the desperate desire to kiss Fang again that pervaded her entire being.

"Didn't even have time to dry out," Fang muttered, flicking at her sari peevishly. There was a small burble of agreement as they stepped out into the rain, a collective shudder spreading through the group as the rain immediately permeated their clothing and struck their skin.

"We're gonna need to set up camp again," Snow groaned. He tapped his arm. "Glad our countdown timers have paused for a little while, otherwise we'd all be Cie'th at this rate."

They settled in the passageway to the Sulyya Springs, opting for the shelter over the comfort of their previous encampment up on the Skyreach.

"Light, come and do a sweep with me," Fang said brightly, though there was a strange falseness in her voice.

"Yeah, you guys go sweep. We'll knock up something to eat," Sazh assured them, waving them away. Lightning nodded mutely and followed Fang along the passageway stiffly, waiting until they were out of earshot and sight of the group before she relaxed. Even in the narrow stone tunnel, the sound of the ferocious rain outside could still be heard. Lightning glanced at Fang. For a moment, their eyes met, and they both hurriedly looked away. Lightning cleared her throat. They halted, Fang awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck. Lightning's heart hammered against the walls of her chest with an astounding strength.

"So uh..." Fang began. "What do we do now-"

"Shut up," Lightning said, slamming the taller woman against the wall and silencing her with a kiss that stole the breath from her lungs. Fang didn't even resist, her hands finding their way into Lightning's hair, breaking the kiss to take a shuddering breath. Their eyes locked and there was a silent moment of understanding. There was a strange tenderness as Lightning tentatively raised a hand to touch Fang's jaw, her breath hitching as Fang's eyelashes fluttered and she moaned softly into Lightning's touch.

"This is going to happen whether we like it or not, isn't it?" Lightning whispered.

"Well I can't speak for you, but I like it," Fang breathed back, smiling. "But Vanille-"

"Don't think about it," Lightning told her, kissing her again. They broke apart, laughing nervously, and stood, unsure of how to proceed for a moment.

"Look, we can't just... keep doin' this," Fang said, as Lightning began to walk ahead.

"Are we doing a sweep or not," Lightning asked tonelessly, though she turned to offer a reassuring smile at Fang who opened her mouth to speak, thought the better of it, and closed it again with a slight frown, following Lightning with a sigh. Lightning stretched, focusing on the sound of the rain. _Well Vanille,_ she thought sourly. _I'm taking your advice. We'll face it later._ _For now, what happens, happens. You can't stop life anymore than you can stop the rain._


	5. Chapter 5

_**[A/N** short chapter this time, thanks so much for all your feedback! I'm really trying to take stuff on board and see what happens with it. This story was originally gonna be Neapolitan, but I went in a different direction with it; I think Fang loves too intensely for that arrangement to work haha. Let me know if there's anything you guys would like to see or whatever, I love prompts and stuff. I've been doing my exams whilst writing this, so my writing has been pretty poor and disorganised, just figured I'd apologise for that haha. **]**_

Fang let out a noise of frustration and stormed after Lightning, grabbing her by the forearm and yanking her round to face her. Lightning looked down coldly at where Fang gripped her arm.

"You are asking to have your hand liberated from your wrist," she said acidly, attempting to jerk herself out of Fang's grasp. The huntress' grip was iron, however, and her jaw was set. Her green eyes flamed.

"Nah, this is bullshit Light and you know it," Fang seethed, though she grudgingly let Lightning's arm fall. "Just talk to me. You keep lookin' at me like you wanna kill me, but then you come out here and kiss me?"

Lightning let out and angry sigh and pressed the heels of her hands into her eye sockets, trying desperately to work some clarity into her brain.

"What are we doing? What's even happening?" she asked nobody in particular, a note of desperation colouring her voice.

"Look... I thought we'd agreed that Oerba was a one time thing, didn't mean anythin', we were cool, Vanille was cool, it was all cool," Fang said, her voice softening. They'd reached the end of the tunnel, and the springs were relatively quiet save for a few roaming monsters minding their own business out on the water. Fang sat down heavily onto the stone, motion for Lightning to join her. She did so, careful to sit in the mouth of the cave where the ground was dry. Fang looked deep into Lightning's eyes, probing. Lightning's cheeks coloured slightly as she looked away, resenting not only the intrusion, but the creeping sensation that Fang could somehow understand precisely what she was thinking. Even in her frustration, she was still drawn to her; something in her wanted to reach out and touch Fang's face, to tell her _everything_. The issue was, even Lightning herself didn't fully understand how she felt. She looked away, though Fang reached out to touch her jaw, gently turning her face so that she had to look her in the eye. Lightning blazed, but Fang was composed and still, her green-gold eyes gentle and interested.

"Stop runnin' away from me," she murmured, barely audible. "Didn't think you were scared of anything."

Lightning resisted the urge to push her off, her jaw twitching slightly at the implication she was afraid. Truthfully, she was afraid, but telling Fang that wasn't really on her agenda. Gently, she removed Fang's hand from her cheek, trying not to wince at the sudden sadness that clouded the huntress's expression.

"Look Fang... It doesn't matter what I think about any of this," Lightning said haltingly, struggling to force the words out. "Because _this_ shouldn't even be a thing. It's my fault for leading you on and I'm sorry. Let's just... end this entire thing, because nothing good is going to come of it."

"Light, that's what we tried to do," Fang groaned despairingly. "And you kissed me again. Clearly, there's more this than you're sayin'."

"It doesn't matter if there's more to anything, you're... Vanille's and I'm just being... selfish," Lightning muttered, trying to choose her words carefully and failing. A quiet anger at Fang's refusal to understand lent a tremor to her hands and an edge to her voice. To her surprise, Fang laughed outright, a rich, melodical sound that seemed the colour of caramel, cutting through the grey swirl of Lightning's thoughts.

"Sweetheart, I don't belong to _anyone,_ " Fang replied derisively, quirking her brow. "And Vanille and me... That's my problem."

Lightning tried not to let her face betray the fact her heart had leaped slightly at the implication of Fang's relationship being in trouble; as awful as she knew it was, it filled her with a macabre sort of hope.

"Look, I don't wanna get entangled in all you guys' stuff, so..." Lightning began raising her hands defensively. "But I'll be honest, I didn't expect... all of this to happen because of one stupid kiss."

"You won't get entangled in anything," Fang waved away her concerns, though she paused to look at Lightning directly. "You didn't expect what?"

Lightning didn't answer, looking away and swallowing, trying to steady herself. Big declarations of emotions and feelings and whatever weren't really her _thing._

"You didn't expect to end up with feelings?" Fang continued, voice barely above a whisper. Lightning's head snapped up, her heart feeling as though it had flash frozen in her chest. A cold, creeping sensation crawled through her veins, her chest seizing. Fang took one look at her expression and chuckled.

"Right on the money, huh?" she breathed, leaning in to look into Lightning's eyes. "I didn't either."

Intensity bloomed inside Lightning's chest like a flower, exploding outwards. The frantic whirr of her heartbeat was almost deafening. Was Fang telling her she felt the same? She was so close Lightning could make out the tiniest beginnings of tears clinging to her lower lashes.

"Fang," Lightning sighed gently, pulling back. "Vanille."

"Vanille and I... we have stuff to do," Fang said quietly. "But we've not been the same since even before we fell into stasis the first time."

"What do you mean?" Lightning asked, sitting up, her curiosity piqued.

"Not that it's any of your business," Fang said pointendly, though she wore a mocking smile. "We've been more... friends than anythin' else for a while now. You ever had that thing where you love and admire somebody so much that you don't... fully understand it? I guess it took both of us a while to figure out it wasn't romantic love and admiration. Don't get me wrong, she means more to me than anythin' else in the world. But we've gotten an understandin' we didn't have before."

Lightning nodded slowly, understanding filling her. It made sense; she should've known Fang better, she wasn't the type to so much as look at anybody else if she was truly committed to another.

"So what now?" Lightning ventured. Fang shrugged.

"Guess I'm gonna break things off with Vanille," she said lightly, though her voice caught slightly, her bravado faltering. She raised her hand to rub the back of her neck awkwardly. "And we... well you and I... that's a whatever you want it to be thing."

"What if I don't know what I want it to be?" Lightning replied as they both got to their feet.

"Then I guess we'll find out."


	6. Chapter 6

Exhaustion warmed her bones with a deep ache, the make-shift bed on the ground offering her little comfort. _Though I could be lying in the plushest, finest bed in the whole world and still feel uncomfortable,_ Vanille mused internally, shifting slightly in an effort to make the best of the situation. Their bedding had gotten soaked in the rain and was drying by the fire along with all the clothes the party had been brave enough to remove, and thus they'd been relegated to sleeping on the ground without the comfort of their blankets and bedrolls. Usually, she'd have had the additional warmth of Fang pressed against her back, but not that night. Something in the air had changed; there was a tremulous sort of hesitation to every breath of wind, the feeling that every particle of the atmosphere was rapidly vibrating with an invisible energy as oppressive as an oncoming storm. The strange quality of the air weighted her chest with something like a frightened sadness, sourceless and grey and painful. She rolled over, feigning sleep as she looked through her lashes at the sleeping form of Lightning a few feet away, her chest rising and falling slowly. Even in sleep there seemed a tautness to her face, her jaw still clenched. _That girl will never find peace,_ Vanille reflected sadly; some part of her just sensed that Lightning would forever be plagued by a burning something or other, a needling anxiety. _Not even after we're all dead._ Vanille blew out a quiet sigh, breath catching as she heard Fang's voice. Fang and Sazh were on watch that night, which Vanille had rather resented; she had hoped for the chance to talk to Fang. She couldn't make out quite what Fang was saying, and strained to hear.

"...Y'know, it's hard when you know what you want and exactly how to get it but at the last second somethin' keeps you from just... takin' it," Fang said softly, resting her chin on her fist thoughtfully as she looked up into the sky at Cocoon, silvery against the dark curtain of night.

"You gotta do what makes you happy," Sazh shrugged. "But you also gotta do what's right."

"It's not as easy as that," Fang protested. "You ever had that thing where you love somebody with every fibre of your bein', every cell in your body, every rush of blood through your veins is for them... and you think it's romance, meant to be and all that?"

"Yeah," Sazh replied, sounding oddly sad. "I had it with my wife."

"Okay, but imagine feelin' like that and then realisin' it's not... a romantic type of love. It's somethin' else. Like, your soulmate, but... like a friend soulmate," Fang continued hesitantly as Sazh chuckled at her. Vanille held her breath.

"Oh you talk a big game girl but you're still a kid," he said quietly, patting Fang on the back. "You know not everybody you feel a connection with has to be romantic. I'm a firm believer in platonic soulmates. I think it's just for most people, they get their platonic soulmates and romantic soulmates all wrapped into one neat package."

"Yeah..." Fang said thoughtfully. Vanille could picture the look on her face vividly though the firelight shadowed her. "But what if you and... your platonic soulmate... thought you were in love but then you fell for somebody for real and you realised things weren't what you thought they were?"

Sazh paused for a long time, clearly trying to think of an answer. Vanille was painfully aware of the tears sticking her lashes together. She struggled to conceal a shuddering sob, but the sound tripped out from between her parted lips before she could choke it into silence. Fang immediately got to her feet and Vanille knew she'd been found out eavesdropping. Slowly she sat up and looked into Fang's eyes.

"...Sorry, Vanille," Fang whispered, moving forward to embrace her. "I didn't mean to... we need to talk-"

Vanille stood up too quickly; the world was briefly ringed by an inward creeping shadow as a sudden dizziness rose within her, her heartbeat deafening. She tried to force out the word _no_ as she blindly pushed Fang away and ran, somewhere, anywhere, away. Somewhere in the aether, a voice calling her name trembled, a crack of thunder stealing the last syllable as the rain once again began to fall.

 _Face it later, face it later, face it later._

The rain beat a steady hum onto her expedient shelter of a piece of corrugated iron propped over a small niche in the rock. Taejin's Tower loomed over her, pearly white against the darkness, visible through a space between the iron and the stone. She drew her knees up to her chin and pressed her face into her arms, biting her lip in frustration as another sob wracked her. She wasn't sure how long ago she'd run from the camp, only that the palest suggestion of morning brightened the distant horizon. Some time ago, she'd stayed perfectly still as Fang had come past, soaked to the skin and calling her name. Vanille had stayed quiet and waited for her to leave; she had not seen Fang pass by again. Thinking of Fang made it feel like somebody had gripped her heart in their fist and were squeezing mercilessly, though the more she tried to keep from thinking of her, the clearer the image of her in her mind's eye became. The rain grew heavier, tapping out a rhythm that matched her thoughts.

 _Face it later_

 _I love you_

 _Face it later_

 _I love you_

 _Face it later_

 _I love you_

Vanille almost squeaked in fright as she heard a painfully familiar voice call her name from outside.

"I know you're in there," Fang said despairingly, crouching down and knocking on the sheet of metal. "Can I come in?"

"I don't know if you'll fit," Vanille said hesitantly, but Fang had already squeezed in beside her. She was utterly drenched, hair slicked into her face in long dark tendrils, her clothes darkened with rainwater.

"Can we talk?" Fang asked, voice gentle. She reached out to take Vanille's hand. Initially, Vanille wanted to pull away, but something kept her hand steady as Fang's fingers interlaced hers. Vanille steadfastly looked away, knowing the moment she looked into Fang's eyes she'd burst into tears all over again, or worse, immediately forgive her.

"Yeah," she said grudgingly, though her voice was gentler than Fang had expected.

"I'm so so so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," Fang began sincerely. "You gotta believe me, I was gonna do it proper and tell you everythin', I didn't mean for you to hear it... like that. But you gotta know, I love you Vanille, I do. More than anythin' in the world, but..."

"But not the way I want you to love me," Vanille finished in a small voice. "Not the way I love you."

"...No," Fang conceded. "Like Sazh was sayin'-"

"Platonic soulmates," Vanille interjected with a bitter laugh. "I guess that works nicely for you."

She glanced up, feeling a brief satisfaction at the hurt on Fang's face and then immediately despising herself. She threw her arms around Fang and embraced her, tears suddenly free flowing.

"I take it back, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," she said in a hurried whisper into Fang's shoulder. Fang stroked her hair and drew her closer.

"I know," she murmured softly. "But really Vanille, you gotta believe me, I'm sorry."

"I do believe you," Vanille replied, sniffing heartily and brushing away tears with the back of her hand. "But sorry doesn't make it hurt less. You can't just... fix it with sorry."

"I know," Fang replied, Vanille's heart sinking as she felt her shoulders slump. "But it's a good place for me to start."

Vanille looked up to smile at her remark, and the moment she looked into Fang's eyes, her heart fell apart. She realised in that moment, she'd have done anything for Fang, forever and always, and if what Fang needed to be happy was somebody other than her, then by all the Gods she'd step aside and let it happen. _If I really love her, I need her to be happy and nobody can be happy when they're pretending._

"I just... I just want you to be happy," Vanille said, defeated, grateful that her voice did not tremble. "And if you truly love somebody else... then I'll let you go."

Vanille almost toppled with surprise as Fang openly wept, throwing her arms around Vanille with renewed vigour.

"Vanille, I'll love you forever and ever," Fang sobbed into her hair. "You need to know, forever and ever, and you'll always be the most important person in the world to me, and I know that's not the love you want from me or anythin', but it's the best I can give you and I'm sorry because you deserve better."

"And you tell everybody I'm the emotional one," Vanille joked through a fog of tears. "I love you too."

They embraced in silence, each stifling sobs as the rain continued to stutter against their shelter, shivering as their wet clothes cooled against their skin. Eventually, Vanille felt her body fall numb a long time after both she and Fang had stopped shivering with sobs. A sleep took her, immediately leaving her dead to the rolling thunder that roared across the sky, the sound of the rain melting to silence.

Pink. And the smell of moss and flowers and petrichor. Vanille was momentarily disorientated, aware that she was moving and immensely uncomfortable. It took a few seconds for her to realise that she was being carried on Lightning's back, enjoying a facefull of pink curls as a pillow. She hastily sat back, almost toppling both of them.

"You got a live one," Snow laughed, carrying Fang bridal style in his arms as though she weighed nothing. "Told ya you shoulda let Sazh come with me instead. You and your _responsibilities._ "

Lightning did not deign to reply, instead slowing her pace slightly to regain her balance. Vanille stayed mute, flushing into Lightning's shoulder. Fortunately, they were only a few paces short of camp, and the moment they reached the edge of the campfire, Lightning slowly deposited her onto a thankfully dry bedroll. She busied herself fetching Vanille a heap of blankets and setting water onto the fire to boil. Vanille sniffled miserably. _Oh good, that's exactly what my aching heart needed. A cold to distract it._

"You guys got pretty sick staying out in the rain all night," Lightning said quietly, bringing over some clothes. She looked the other way as Vanille changed, handing her a blanket when satisfied she wouldn't get an accidental eyeful for her trouble. She smiled slightly at the sight of Vanille in one of Snow's huge, oversized shirts.

"Sorry, it was the only spare clothing we had, everything else is soaked," Lightning said apologetically, adding another blanket ontop of the one Vanille had covered herself with. She pretended not to notice as Vanille wiped her nose on the back of her hand.

"Hey Light?" Vanille ventured cautiously, yawning widely. Despite sleeping however long they'd been hidden away, she felt as though she'd been awake for days; her bones ached like nothing she'd ever experienced and her throat felt full of rusty nails. "Don't... Don't worry about anything. Fang and I talked."

"What did she say?" Lightning replied, her voice steady though Vanille noted a flash of panic in her eye.

"She didn't say anything about you, if that's what you mean. I just kinda figured," Vanille shrugged, lying down under the blankets. She turned away, moodily picking at the dirt at the side of the bedroll. "Just... don't let her down."

There was a long pause between them; Vanille was fairly certain she could hear Light's heart threatening to burst from her chest. Fang was dead to the world, swaddled in blankets a few feet away in fitful sleep.

"I won't," Lightning replied curtly, though she placed a grateful hand on Vanille's shoulder before rising and walking away, leaving a fizzing silence in her wake.


	7. Chapter 7

_**[A/N** little bit of filler, I didn't do much explaining in the last chapter. I promise I'm doing something with all this, just a bit clumsily. I don't want a quick resolution between Fang and Vanille and Lightning, I'm going to try and cover the grief and confusion as best I can. For those of you here for smut, I promise some is coming soon **]**_

Time slid by behind a trembling film of warm rain, or maybe tears, Vanille wasn't sure. Somewhere in a lavender-silver haze, the sun had been blown out. Her limbs were made of lead; the world dawned in a fluttering aurora and melted to quicksilver, droplets evaporating and quavering into stars before vanishing all together against a quartz sky imprinted on the inside of her skull. It was summer-warm and yellow when she emerged on the other side, waking up veiled in sweat and sticky tears.

"You okay?" the words were a melody, trembling in abstract, scrawling notes through the golden particles of atmosphere and into her consciousness. The voice was sonorous as old brass. "You've been asleep for ages, longer than me and I was out for three days."

Vanille couldn't muster a reply, sitting up slowly. The world weaved and swirled and refocused into sudden sharpness, green clarity startling after her long sleep. Sound burbled absently behind a cloud of blurring nothingness, slowly growing in coherency and volume. A tanned arm looped over her shoulders gently, a foreign hand offering a waterskin.

"You'll be done in, we got sick out in the storm," Fang told her, rubbing her back sympathetically. Vanille nodded dumbly, memories crawling up her spine with erratic, stuttering spider-steps to settle in the hollow at the base of her skull. As they coiled there, breathing in and out, melting into her bloodstream, extending roots through hollow veins and reaching tubules into the pit of her stomach, Vanille began to recall the moments leading up to her lengthy time spent inside her own head. There had been a rain of tears and the sky had spilled out, dark purple, into her hair. Pink-petal-petrichor-perfume yougottaliveone, then crackling laughter. Lightning, she remembered Lightning; she'd promised she wouldn't let Fang down. And she remembered Fang, and that memory tangled into a knot and choked her. She coughed up her water and it dribbled down her front. Fang attended immediately, dabbing the water away with the edge of her sari and rubbing Vanille's back. Vanille tried to shove her away, but her arm just sort of trembled limply against Fang's chest. Anger and pain rumbled in her chest in equal measures.

"Fang no," she croaked, her voice slurred by sleep and disorientation.

"Woah, it's okay, calm down," Fang's voice was gentle and Vanille stopped resisting, though she maintained a hawk-like gaze of disapproval. "You're really weak, you've been out for more than a week, and the whole time you were cryin' out in your sleep and sweatin'. At first, we thought you were gonna die..."

"I was asleep?" Vanille managed, letting herself sink back into the pillowy mass of blankets. It hadn't felt like sleep; it had been exhaustive mental torture. The ribbons of her muscles felt like they were unravelling around her bones and trickling out through holes under her eyes.

"Yeah," Fang said solemnly, though she chuckled softly at Vanille's incredulous expression. "We got sick that night I... we... broke up."

"Yeah," Vanille replied, mimicking her solemn tone, her brain still slow to process. After a further internal unfurling, the wooly wonder subsided and she recalled Fang's words; she had promised she'd always love her. _But not the way I want her to,_ Vanille's internal voice added, late to her consciousness' awakening party. Vanille almost preferred the marble-granite dreamscape her sickness had committed her to. It would be preferable to lying in Fang's arms, aware simultaneously that your heart beat only for her, and her's didn't beat for you. A shuddering sigh coalesced into a hot steam that pushed upward out of her chest to pause between them, a fine, miserable mist. She pressed the grey clump of defeated thoughts out after her sigh, leaving her chest scrubbed clean, shining pink and raw. The desire to cry died. Vanille sat up properly inspite of her body's protests and took a long drink from the waterskin.

"Is she okay?" Lightning's voice fell like snow into Vanille's hair, a chill flurry. She met Lightning's eye, afraid of how she might feel when the rest of her brain caught up with her memories. There was an overwhelming desire to cry, perhaps to dump the contents of the waterskin over Fang's head, but looking at Lightning, nothing even remotely angry stirred. Not even the smallest sting of jealousy, just a swelling notion of love. There was something about the far-off, eternally distracted beauty of Lightning's face, the perpetual sense of a deep, black depression pooling beneath her skin like stagnant water. Something about _Lightning._ It made it impossible for Vanille to feel anything other than the crushing sort of love and affection she imagined she'd have felt for a sibling, some deep protective desire swelling in her chest. Lightning approached tentatively and sat on the edge of Vanille's bedroll. Fang cleared her throat and looked away, at which Lightning looked at her pointedly. Vanille was sure she could see the glistening string of their thoughts passing between them, blue-silver and glowing, see the tiny italicised writing of their internal conversations looping in the air.

 _Don't bring this to her bedside, let her heal up a little first,_ thought-string-Lightning said reprovingly.

 _What if she doesn't remember?_ thought-string-Fang protested.

"I remember everything," Vanille vocalised, feeling the air around her words crack and split and blister. "And it's okay."

Lightning remained impassive, simply nodding. Fang looked relieved.

"You... wanna talk?" Fang ventured. Vanille could tell somehow that her limited speech was worrying her.

"I'm actually kinda hungry..." Vanille said with a laugh, twirling one of her pigtails around her fingers. The cheer was false and tasted like melting sugar. _Pretend for long enough and it'll be the real thing,_ she told herself firmly, smiling sheepishly at Fang and Lightning, who went to demand answers as to what food was available. The moment they left, Vanille let herself sink backward into the blankets and pillows, her eyes sliding shut. Sleep crept up over her jaw and into her mouth, granting her the first true rest she'd had since the night she understood Fang didn't love her the way she had wanted her to. Sinking into a slightly-too warm sleep-stupor was immediately preferable to thinking about anything.


	8. Chapter 8

After two more days, Fang deemed Vanille well enough for them to move on. Lightning was grateful; the hot, damp air of the Springs was almost suffocating, and sleep hadn't come easily. Moving back to the dry heat of the cliffs in the shadow of the ruined tower was almost a welcome prospect. Though Lightning worried; what if it wasn't the air that choked her lungs, but a slick of constricting guilt, flooding her chest every time she glanced at Vanille? She knew it wasn't her fault the girl had run off; "face it later" had been her mantra for so long Lightning hadn't expected anything else. However, it was her fault for coming between Vanille and Fang in the first place, for confusing things, for dissolving an age old understanding that had been solidified between two lovers long before she'd even been born. Her thoughts crawled out of her nose in a blue sigh. Fang hadn't been particularly helpful either; she'd barely looked at Lightning since their conversation and had spent most of her time away from the camp, doing Etro knows what out in the wildnerness. She'd come back bloody with grass stains on her knees and elbows and covered in clumsily self-healed wounds. Fang was a brilliant woman with many talents, but curative magic was not one of them. Hope had tried to heal her to a better standard, but she had grumbled and growled with such ferocity that he left her alone, a gaping wound on her arm half vanished thanks to his efforts, the other half blotchily scarred into a thick purple bundle of scar tissue thanks to Fang's. After a few days on Sazh's hearty dinners and her own and Hope's medical attentions, Vanille had returned to her old self, chirrupy and energetic though she spent more and more time with Sazh, Hope and Snow to avoid Light and Fang. Lightning was not offended; the hurt there was still raw, and she understood the best way to deal with it was to let Vanille think things through before approaching with whatever self-placating apologies she planned on offering. The others were clearly not oblivious to the tension, but if they cared, none of them had mentioned it beyond worrying about Fang's disappearing acts. As they squelched through the damp, mossy tunnel leading out of the Sulyya Springs toward Taejin's Tower, Lightning briefly considered simply asking Fang why she was running away. The notion vanished as quickly as it had come; Lightning doubted Fang would even acknowledge the question, let alone give a decent answer.

 _Of course,_ Lightning thought to herself, swatting a mosquito on her arm, _It'd be far too easy if she just told me what was on her mind._

Vanille shivered pleasantly as she sank into the sand, dangling her legs over the cliff edge at the Palisades. The sun had beat down mercilessly upon the cliffs all day, and the sandy earth was gloriously warm. Tiny golden eddies whirled upward at the impact and drifted off the cliff's edge, melting into the sky. For a long moment, Vanille was content; one could not see Oerba from here, and it was easy enough to pretend nothing had changed. They'd slain their mark not an hour before, a hulking juggernaut who had run awry; the first fight after her days of rest had been exhilirating. Vanille squeaked in surprise as Lightning firmly sat down next to her, eyes on the sky, though Vanille knew she was gearing up to "talk". They sat in silence for a few moments.

"Vanille-" Lightning began hesitantly, her trepadition so unfitting that Vanille's brows shot upward.

"Don't think about it," Vanille interrupted. Lightning immediately close her mouth and looked down. Silence descended once more before the arrival of Fang, pulling a long barbed spine out of her arm, caused a chorus of hellos from the rest of the camp. Vanille didn't even bother looking round.

"I'm the one who was left heartbroken," Vanille said softly. "And I'm not disappearing into the wildnerness with a death wish."

"People deal with things differently I guess," Lightning shrugged. She didn't want to try and comfort her; what would she say? _She'll come around?_ She couldn't presume to tell Vanille anything about Fang. The needling knowledge of their lengthy romance stole any level of understanding Lightning might have developed for Fang; what was their time as l'Cie to endless years together in a crystal embrace? Her thought process was interrupted as Vanille started speaking again.

"Look Light, I appreciate what you're doing but you being guilty doesn't make me feel any better," Vanille said apologetically, leaning back to rest on her hands. "This is something that's just gonna have to happen however it happens, and we'll work through it."

Lightning nodded slowly, trying to process what Vanille was suggesting, before the younger girl suddenly looked up at her and fixed her with an uncharacteristically steely gaze.

"I know what you're thinking," Vanille sighed. "And I don't think you _stole_ Fang away or anything. She's a big girl, she makes her own decisions. People are complex and we change and grow and sometimes what we need or want changes with us."

"I-I'm glad you're not uh... holding a grudge," Lightning replied, surprised both at Vanille's unusually direct approach to their conversation and the falter in her own voice. Vanille looked away, and Lightning took that as her cue to back off, getting to her feet and patting Vanille on the shoulder gratefully before heading back to the camp. Fang was sitting moodily a few feet away, trying to heal the enormous gaping wound in her arm and swearing as the wound repeatedly reopened under her clumsy ministrations. Lightning walked over, threw herself down into the dust beside her and without a word, yanked her arm out straight. She ignored Fang's hisses of protest and profanity, and cast a cure spell Hope would've been proud of, the gentle glow bathing Fang's bronze skin, the flesh knitting together before her eyes. First the deep red meat, then the yellow subcutaneous fat, drawing together and melting into unflawed flesh as though the wound had never been there. After a few moments, the process was almost complete, the top few layers of skin healing untidily and leaving a shiny, raised scar. Fang flicked the purple mark with one finger.

"Not bad," she said, raising one eyebrow, her initial protests dyingin her throat as she noted Lightning's proficiency. "Bet ya the scars'll go down by tomorra too."

Lightning couldn't help but smile slightly at how impressed Fang sounded.

"Well you needed somebody to fix you up," Lightning said, pointing at the twisted mess of her lower abdomen. "You're not too hot with the whole medic thing yet, though you did well to get that wound to close at all, even with a lot of scarring."

"Gee, thanks," Fang replied drily. "Anyway, what did you want? Thought we were letting stuff... cool off."

"I think we should go off on our own for a bit," Lightning suggested, hurriedly continuing as she noticed Fang's concerned expression. "I love working with the party, but we need to... work out what the hell we're even doing. And we can't do that with everybody nearby all the time."

"You just wanna get me alone," Fang replied triumphantly, cackling at Lightning's sheepish expression. "But yeah, I agree. We need a good excuse though."

"Easy, we'll just say we wanna do some Cie'th Stones by ourselves, test out our strength, have a few days adventuring before we have to sit down with everybody and start a plan as to how we're gonna deal with Orphan," Lightning said, shrugging. "I doubt they'll buy it, but hey, sounds better than _I need to talk about my no longer solely professional relationship with one of my fellow fugitive l'cie._ "

"True," Fang conceded. "I'll suggest the idea, say we're going to train up before we all head back to the Cradle."

Lightning shuddered internally at the memory of the Orphan's Cradle, but merely nodded in reply, settling with her back to the stone cliff that towered above them as Fang got up and wandered over to join the rest of the group. Suddenly, the knowledge that she was going to be alone in the wilderness with Fang for a considerable amount of time struck her like a punch in the face.

 _Well now you're going to have to figure out what the hell is going on between you two. No backing out._


End file.
